Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2

Dragon Ball Z games have been fairly lack-luster, with the exception of the well-balanced fighter Super Dragonball Z. The one thing that game lacked was a huge roster and an adventure mode. Enter Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2. This game has enough fighters, play modes and battle areas to make any hardened DBZ fan weak at the knees.

There are three game modes to choose from; first is the adventure mode, which spans the entire series with fights played out in various locations from the show. Characters are available based on who was involved with the current scenario. Event battles push the story forward, while there are other locations you can visit to collect Z items for equipping, Dragonballs, and side fights.

Next, we have the Ultimate Battle Z mode, with every fighter available. There is a huge selection of fighters in this mode. Unfortunately, they aren’t all on the fighter selection screen at once, so you have to scroll through rows of seven available fighters. This mode however plays out like a standard arcade mode: you take on opponents until you finish the last one. Winning matches gains experience for your fighter, while improving your character’s rank.

This is followed by Dragon Tournament; in this mode players fight through a series of tournaments against human or cpu opponents. Each one must be finished on the highest difficulty setting to proceed. The main difference in this mode is that all fights take place in the tournament area and if your feet touch the ground outside of the ring or you’re knocked out of bounds, you lose the match.

Finally, Duel mode is essentially a multiplayer mode, where players can fight in a exhibition match against either a cpu or player opponents. Once again, every unlocked character is available and waiting for your abuse.

Battles are fought at both close and long range with melee or ki attacks, which can be used at close or long range, while melee combat prevents fighters from using their ki attacks at close range. Each fighter has their own trademark ki attack(s). Some can be charged up for more damage but take longer to perform, while some fighters, such as the androids, can charge up their energy on the fly. The best way to perform the powerful ki attacks is to get far away, power up, and then rush back to let them have it.

With over 40 fighters, huge battlefields and huge ki attacks, Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 gives players everything they might want in a Dragonball title, and then some. For anyone with Nintendo’s new console, the Wii version is due for release early next year and will feature even more fighters. As it stands, the PS2 version is a fighting game purely for the fans.